I can’t remember when I started getting addicted to Chuvaness. I think I had just moved to Singapore and was pretty homesick. Chuvaness was one of my connections to home, but soon became a thoroughly engrossing read for reasons beyond that: unconventional tastes, writing that’s both conversational and no-frills direct, a strong and unique point of view and a love for great design.

Cecile Zamora-van Straten’s posts about her fascinating life in Manila, filled with fashionable friends, indulgent travels, and a happy home with her Dutch chef husband and three sons, soon became—and still is—one of my regular online haunts. Her blog inspired me to start seeing “hard-to-understand” monochromatic clothing in a new light, and introduced me to stores like Bleach Catastrophe and brands like Muji (life-changing!). I know I’m not the only one who’s been influenced by her—the “Chuvaness effect” is an acknowledged phenomenon in the Philippine blogosphere.

So when I sent her an email inviting her to meet up on her family trip Holland this summer, I didn’t think Cecile (the Cecile, in my mind) would actually agree. But she did! And that is how I found myself on a train to Utrecht one sunny spring afternoon to meet one of my favorite bloggers.

For a woman with a huge online presence and bold (often controversial) opinions, Cecile is tiny and soft-spoken in real life. More importantly, I quickly realized that she is a fag hag just like me (mabuhayangbabaeng bading!). That made it refreshingly easy to get along with her and just hang out, walking the charming streets of Utrecht.

I met her family: chef Jeroen, Ben and Markus. Not only them, but a whole bunch of Dutch relatives to boot…

… who dragged her (physically) into a family photo. Funny.

“Meeting your family is like meeting characters from a book!” I told her. I feel like I’ve been reading about them for years, so finally getting to meet them was pretty surreal. Especially when she instructed her sons to “kiss Tita.” I’m highly averse to being called Tita at the (relatively young) age of 30, so I asked: “Pwede bang Ate na lang?” Apparently, the boys prefer Tita, so Tita it is.

Being married myself, one of my favorite things about the afternoon was seeing Cecile and Jeroen, one of the blogosphere’s cutest couples, together in the flesh. They have cute nicknames for each other, and Jeroen takes her hand while crossing the street; all these sweet little in-between moments that make a marriage, which you don’t see on a blog. When we stepped into Albert Heijn, I felt like I was going grocery shopping with a hipper version of Ned and Alice Wakefield (or your favorite fictional couple).

And of course, how could I leave out finally meeting the famous Yaya Bhing?

I don’t know many yayas who get to go to Europe, use North Face outerwear and Muji luggage, and have a travel allowance in Euros. Bongga! Naturally, we had to have a picture together. My only regret is that I didn’t ask her to braid my hair.

I walked back with Cecile to her apartment close to the city center, and spent a few minutes outside just talking and hanging out. She was bundled up in her chic mom/travel/cold weather uniform and I had to take off my coat because I felt warm (it was about 10℃, but sunny).

Finding out how many common friends and acquaintances we have reminded me how small a Pinoy’s world can be. “How come you know everyone?” she asked me. That’s Manila for you—there’s always a connection somewhere. Besides, who doesn’t love off-the-record chismis ?

Meet the Van Stratens!

It was one of those times that can be accurately be described as “surreal, but nice.” Thanks, Chuvaness, for a fun afternoon. Hope to see you back in Holland… but till then, there’s the Internet!

Of the many blogs I discovered while doing the Blogging Your Way e-course a few months back, Carousel is one of the few that I follow religiously. The woman at the helm of Carousel is Chi Feasey, a London-based fashion designer with a great eye and a bold, fabulous personal style. Chi first got me hooked by blogging about her brave decision to wear just Six Items or Less for an entire month. Her 30-day fashion diary is filled with fun and creative outfits, and had me virtually applauding by the time of its grand finale.

Inspired by and as a shout out to Carousel, I’ve decided to put together a little “Hunter Gatherer” collection of my own from my visit to Van Dijk en Ko. They had a large-ish selection of second-hand books, with many dating back to the 1900s.

I love books and I love paper. Make them decades, even a hundred years old and you’ll have me in a puddle on the floor.

Most of the volumes that caught my eye were published between 1900 and 1930. It was a time when every printed book was precious and expensive, a work of art. This beautiful book on Dutch paintings, for example, has a stunning trifecta of binding, endpaper and bookplate.

Old endpapers with a hand-drawn feel. The last really eye-catching endpaper I saw was in a hardbound copy of Harry Potter, but of course it was missing the character of a paper like this.

How they did branding in the old days: the bookseller’s label in each book. Even the tiniest stamp had room for two fonts and a couple of flourishes.

Another art book with an amazing embossed hardcover.

And a tiny book of prayers that fits into a palm or pocket.

I love books with surprises, like a letter or postcard tucked into its pages. Jumping ahead a few decades, I found this personalized astrology chart in an art book from the 1960s.

This “Electric Cookbook”, which taught Dutch housewives of the 1960s to cook with that newfangled contraption known as an electric stove, held a sheaf of handwritten recipes. Check out that cursive.

This recipe lists currants, raisins, brown sugar and apple juice as its main ingredients. Sounds yummy.

Books and paper can be so lovely. This is why I’ll probably never get a Kindle!

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This is my first Blog of the Month feature. Every month, I promise to send a shout out to one of the bloggers on my blogroll, in the form of an “As Seen On…” type of post. Let me know if you like the idea… and the post, of course!